On To Fairbanks

Although I could easily spend a month or more in and around Denali, it was time for Vince and I to move on to the next destination on our list: Fairbanks. We checked out of our room, grabbed a quick snack, and hit the road!

Our first stop in town- coffee!

From there we headed to The Museum Of The North. It was an excellent stop; exhibits included photography, animals, dinosaurs, local history, and state history :)

Gorgeous photography from a local artist

 

Alaska brown bear (this one is 8'9" tall and weighed 1,250 pounds!)

Polar bear and seals

A caribou



Moose

Dall Sheep

Ermine (weasels!)

Whales 

Walruses

A Steppe Bison

Mammoths & Mastodons 

 

Dinosaurs

Local paintings- beautiful

It was time to check in to our hotel when we finished touring the museum

Our check in complete, it was time to make a harder decision-
where to eat dinner!

Eventually we agreed on The Pump House; a restaurant that was reconstructed from a pumping station that was formerly used to process gold :)

We had a nice dinner on the patio and decided to stretch our legs downtown. It was turning out to be a spectacular day outside, so we wanted to make the most of it!

 

 Historic Catholic Church from 1904

 WWII Monument

The Antler Arch



The Visitor's Center- very nice!



Me next to a HUGE sunflower in the Visitor's Center gardens

We walked around for over an hour and decided it was ice cream time :p

Hot Licks is the local favorite, so that's where we went!



 We made it just before the line got long- YES!

There were lots of choices, but we eventually made up our minds... 

...it was a great way to end our first day in The Golden Heart City :)

Augtoberfest

Vince and I had just enough time after our Denali excursion to grab a cup of coffee and freshen up before heading to Augtoberfest at the 49th State Brewery. The brewery was putting on an Octoberfest-themed event in August (hence the name) and we were stoked! German fare and music from Blackwater Railroad and Trampled By Turtles were on the bill; it was a great way to end this leg of our trip :)

Making our way through "security"

Vintage flag inside the restaurant- I totally need to find one of these!

Some snippets from the event menu... 

...we pretty much HAD to get a flight of the German-style beers ;)

Bavarian-style pretzel with cheese (yum!)

My smoked pork chop and sauerkraut was awesome :p 

Bellies full, we stocked up on some swag before the music began

The happy little Germans (love those t's!)

One of the brewery's trademark signs... 

...and folks having fun in the woods!



Good times :)

Into The Wild

After a quiet first night in Healy, Vince and I woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; we were ready to hit the trail! But first: breakfast...

We decided to try a little diner not far from our hotel



 

The place was packed- always a good sign!

We shared a house-made sourdough cinnamon roll; it was AWESOME



I didn't put much of a dent in my monster-sized omelette, but I gave it a shot ;) 

Time to hit the trail! 

One of my favorite parts of hiking is looking at the flora and fauna...



Various edible berries 

Wildflowers that I hadn't seen growing up

At this point, we cleared the woods and started heading skyward



Vince and I stopping for "action shots" halfway up ;)



Made it to the top!

The end of the trail

We took some time to enjoy the view, made our way back to the car, and decided to drive into the park and look for critters before getting ready for the evening's events.

The best viewing opportunities typically happen in the mornings/evenings, but we managed to spy a caribou. Had our evening been free, we would have stayed in the park longer, but we had places to be! Stay tuned...

Return to Denali

After a week at home, Vince and I were ready to hit the road again; this time heading north to Denali National Park, Fairbanks, North Pole, and Delta Junction. Our first stop was Denali. We were excited to revisit the park after having a blast in 2014 and eager to explore more of the park :)


The weather was rainy when we arrived, but we made the best of it. We spent a few hours at the Denali Park visitor's center and gift shops, found a good hike for the next day, and headed to Parks 229 for dinner.

Parks 229 road sign

Time to check in! We stayed at The Totem Inn in Healy



Knowing the day ahead would be a busy one, Vince and I unpacked the car, organized our things, and tucked in early- looking forward to our next day's adventures...